Sebring Police Department receives grant for officer retention
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SEBRING – The village's police department received grant funding from the state to help with officer retention.
Gov. Mike DeWine awarded Sebring Village Police Department about $51,000 through the Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program.
DeWine partnered with the Ohio General Assembly in 2021 to create the program, which provides law enforcement agencies with funds to address violence and increases in crime associated with law enforcement resignations and retirements.
The program is funded through both the state operating budget and with American Recovery Plan Act, according to a news release from DeWine.
"(The funds) really will be used as a bonus for retention of our current officers," Village Manager Jack Haney said.
Other Mahoning County police agencies that received grant funds include the Austintown Township Police Department ($281,800) and the Milton Township Police Department ($18,000).
DeWine's news release says the agencies can use the money to recruit new officers and continue ongoing public safety services to prevent and investigate violent crime, too.
"By providing this support, we're helping our peace officers proactively prevent violence, and we're also helping law enforcement maintain the staffing levels they need to protect our communities," DeWine said in a prepared statement.
Haney said Sebring sought the funding so it could provide additional support to the village's law enforcement.
"We don't pay exuberant fees out here for everybody, so if we can make their lives a little easier, we want to support them," he said.
DeWine has awarded $9.6 million to 44 law enforcement across Ohio through the Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program. In total, the grant program will award $58 million to police agencies in the state over the next several months.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or pmbennett@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @paigembenn.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Sebring Police Department awarded Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant
